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“Children can often feel alone and isolated and when they can relate to characters in a book, it helps them feel less alone,” Sarah Cloud, Director of Social Work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said.

By Brittany Schock, Richland Source, August 20, 2020 "When someone comes up with a medication that cures racism, I'll admit it's a health crisis." That comment was left on the Richland Source Facebook page, under a report stating Mansfield City Council had just voted 5-4 against declaring racism a public health crisis. "If you're racist, you don't need a pill." In some ways, this statement is true. Racism is defined as "a belief that some races are superior to others, used to devise and...

By Dale Mezzacappa, Chalkbeat Philadelphia, August 18, 2020 Philadelphia’s high school admissions process has long been the subject of controversy because of the stark underrepresentation of Black and Latino students at the city’s top public schools. Past administrations have attempted to make changes, only to be stymied by backlash from mostly white families who say the magnet schools keep them in the city. But with the country’s racial reckoning and a pandemic halting standardized tests,...

By Naja H. Rod, Jessica Bengtsson, Esben Budtz-Jorgensen, et al., The Lancet, August 15, 2020 Summary Background Childhood is a sensitive period with rapid brain development and physiological growth, and adverse events in childhood might interfere with these processes and have long-lasting effects on health. In this study, we aimed to describe trajectories of adverse childhood experiences and relate these to overall and cause-specific mortality in early adult life. Methods For this...

Dear Colleague, My name is Bradford Stucki and I am a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech. I am conducting a research study for my dissertation that explores the process grandparents raising a grandchild with a history of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, (abuse, neglect, household challenges such as substance use, parent being in jail, domestic violence, family member mental health condition, etc.) experience as they identify personal and grandchild needs, and seek and then use...

ACEs Connection Colleagues- In the wake of COVID - 19 and the amount of loss and grief that has subsequently been experienced by our communities and schools, we are offering a national Grief Sensitive Virtual Learning Institute to provide grief sensitive approaches, evidence-based practices, tools and strategies for community and school practitioners. The MHTTC Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute Registration is now open!

Thursday, September 3, 2020 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT | presented by Dr. Vincent J. Felitti *Priority will be given to Medi-Cal providers* The ACE Study reveals how typically unrecognized adverse childhood experiences are not only common, but causally underlie a number of the most common causes of adult social malfunction, biomedical disease, and premature death. Moreover, it enables one to see that the Public Health Problem is often an individual’s attempted Solution to childhood experiences...

Photo credit: pixabay.com (The article below is based on an excerpt from my book, Crazy Was All I Ever Knew: The Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Kid s. I have used a pseudonym to protect the privacy of family members.) My mother, who was mentally ill, never hugged me, never caressed me, never held me close. As a young child, I had no idea what I was missing. As an adult, I realized that hugs and kisses instill security and stability in kids, and pave the way for healthy emotional...

By Andrew Binet, Stanford Social Innovation Reveiw, Fall 2020 This year’s public health crises—the coronavirus pandemic and endemic police violence—have shone a harsh light on historical inequities in the United States, prompting calls for new ways to guarantee the health, safety, and well-being of all Americans. Historically, attention to public health has waxed and waned as crises strike and then abate. The result has been a patchwork of inadequate public health infrastructure, the...

For those of us who have sought treatment for the symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, here at CPTSD Foundation, know how difficult it is to find a therapist trained to treat us. In fact, in the United States, finding a therapist specifically for CPTSD is exceedingly arduous. This set of articles will explore the mental health disparities displayed in finding help for one of the nation’s most significant and fastest-growing mental health disorders. Attempting to Find Treatment...

New CDC report: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance — United States, 2019 Highlighting emerging issues in adolescent health behaviors Today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, “ Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2019 ,” includes an MMWR Surveillance Supplement featuring several articles written by experts from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control using 2019 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data on the following topic areas: interpersonal violence...

At the A Better Normal live Zoom community discussion event on Friday, August 14th, 2020, we delved for the first time into how music heals. I interviewed singer and songwriter Nick Larson, of band Próxima Parada , based in San Luis Obispo, California about his songwriting process to heal wounds, encourage healing, and inspire others to create transformational art. @Cissy White (ACEs Connection Staff) facilitated the discussion. "When I read your lyrics, you say things that resonate with...